]]>By: DjPrazzahttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-313662
Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:17:56 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-313662Appreciate the article and your dedication to the subject
]]>By: rainwatercatcherhttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-199618
Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:53:21 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-199618Too many comments to read but, it amazes me how so many green LEED buildings do not typically even mention their stewardship to water. Sure, it could be called “carbon neutral” but where is the water coming from? is it being pumped from long distances, chlorinated, filtered, etc.? most likely. is it being drawn from a well? sucking down aquifers and using enormous amounts of energy?quite possibly. How about catching the purest source of water, rain, and using it which requires very little energy while relying on the suns energy and gravity to filter and supply? There are plenty of houses that do this , more now than ever in the past 60-80 years, but can the “greenest house ever built” really not highlight and stand for a detailed focus on water??
]]>By: akruegerhttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-79017
Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:20:53 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-79017@ Scott, and others who seem to be concerned on the matter…

My dad designed this building, and I would like to say that this is not an arbitrary title. While the term “greenest building” leaves a lot of room for question on its exact definition, the entire building was created with the conservation of energy and resources carefully considered. The materials for this building were all supplied locally. The vast majority of the lumber used was cut down on site, and they even used horses to drag the fallen trees. The work that went into the design that allowed the great efficiency that it has, and to create the internal system that collects the energy produced was no easy feat.

@Michael-

The fact that the building is a center not a home is not really important. The building was created for a client, and not intended to be making any sort of strive to win awards and ratings. The architect is simply an environmentalist who takes into consideration all that he can when designing his buildings. His goal is simple, to make a difference in whatever small ways he can, and although I am very bias, I think he has done a great job, and a lot more than many others out there.

Thanks for all the kind words. I think the fact that a building is out there that produces more energy than it uses should be praised, not scrutinized. Isn’t that why we are all here? Because we want more people to take the time and energy to think about the environment?

]]>By: Inhabitat » Recycled Paper Flat-pack Baskets from Engage Greenhttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-78825
Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:19:54 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-78825[…] of the biggest tenets of living a sustainable life is doing more with less, and as we grapple with reducing our carbon footprints we have to take a closer look at how we equip the world we live in. These beautiful […]
]]>By: vagenhttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-78715
Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:28:49 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-78715the overall health of the forest (the leopold memorial reserve) was taken into consideration prior to the construction of the legacy center. the forest, which was planted by the leopold family, had reached a level of maturation where the trees were actually suffering from over competition, thus limiting their ability to sequester carbon. selectively harvesting the poorest trees in the forest improved the overall health of the forest and yielded the majority of the structural and finish materials. the logs used in the trusses were bucked on-site by the hands of many volunteers. milling of lumber and finish materials was done by a small, on-site operation (and a local business). it is the product of the local community and they are proud of it.

it is great to see people looking critically at both operating energy and embodied energy.

]]>By: LEED-Platinum Carbon Neutral « Living Well in Westchesterhttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-77828
Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:13:53 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-77828[…] Read more […]
]]>By: teushttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-66457
Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:31:25 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-66457wow, people like to nit pic. I’m sure its not the greenest building ever built, and people should be careful when making these kinds of statments, but at least this building is a step in the right direction.

and since we are picking nits, since when has ‘unique’ been a synonym for ‘unambiguous’ ? Must be american English

]]>By: marcohttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-64162
Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:07:46 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-64162The greenest building ever built is an exaggeration, for sure! 🙂 Anyway, the designers made a great job.
The point is to consider the overall flows of raw materials used (wood, metals, chemical compounds) and also all the flow of energy needed for running all the facilities inside. That could be a good starting point. Then, for all these flows, we should consider how such flows can impact the surrounding environment, where all the wastes go, etc. I’d love to know if they have an in depht analysis of all the sustainability impacts.
Thanks, Marco.
]]>By: Michaelhttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-64001
Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:54:38 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-64001This building is very nice looking but as an example of green home building it is of little practical value.

Build a carbon neutral house not a “center”. Build it in the city or better yet the suburbs on a plot of land next to all the other existing carbon… positive(?) houses. That is where all the most wasteful construction occurs so exemplify how it can be done differently there, not in the woods. Build it for as much as or less than existing homes, not for millions of dollars. Build it for a family who will then live in it and tell us what they think not what the builders want us to believe.

This site is nothing more than a millionaires compound in a forest populated by new age hippies being used as window dressing for the press in another politically motivated stunt.

Prove the technology in the real world or nobody in the real world will take it seriously.

]]>By: margarethttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-60767
Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:18:28 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-60767forgotten are the cave dwellers
]]>By: Green Building 101: What is LEED?http://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-60759
Mon, 19 Nov 2007 08:05:10 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-60759[…] First LEED Platinum Carbon Neutral Building […]
]]>By: Sunday Speedlinks 11-18-07 | InspiredAustin.comhttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-60723
Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:19:27 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-60723[…] Here are some great photos and details on the First LEED Platinum Carbon Neutral Building. It’s located in Wisconsin, what is it about Wisconsin and innovative architecture? Inhabitat: First LEED Platinum Carbon Neutral Building. […]
]]>By: Andy Ghttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-60206
Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:26:22 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-60206I’m not sure how green the aluminium roof and quarried stone are…but well done. good effort
]]>By: truerank » Blog Archive » First LEED Platinum Carbon Neutral Building!http://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-59770
Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:26:23 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-59770[…] full story here […]
]]>By: LEED, Green, Homes, Buildings « Carbon Crusadershttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-59759
Sun, 11 Nov 2007 22:20:31 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-59759[…] LEED’s certified carbon-neutral building was recently finished in Wisconsin. According to Inhabitat, the building scored a 61 of a possible 69 LEED points, which includes producing 15% more […]
]]>By: simon seasonshttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-59748
Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:51:29 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-59748Quite agree Miles. ‘Indulgences’ is the perfect description for such false accounting. But, it’s better than no accounting as it has been for generations since the inception of the industrial revolution. My post above yours contains the phrase “the fact remains that we are not individuals in the effect that each and every one of us ‘contributes to the affect on the whole”. So to to for every step forward in accounting.
]]>By: mileshttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-59688
Sun, 11 Nov 2007 05:26:57 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-59688Something funny in that claim of carbon neutrality don’t you think? Read more here: http://www.aldoleopold.org/legacycenter/carbonneutral.html

They only get there by including carbon sequestration in a local foundation owned forest! So I guess the secret to building a carbon neutral building is to buy or already own an adjacent forest. While this is true, it is not practical for most people.

The whole carbon offsets and carbon credits business leaves a bad tasted in my mouth. People fly in airplanes and then pay guilt money, indulgences, to companies that claim to somehow somewhere invest in projects that emit carbon at a lower rate than it would otherwise be emitted. You get the idea. An accounting scam… and such scams are multiplying. Is this another one? Hard to say, but we should all be skeptical.

I applaud green design, but as others have mentioned an analysis of the carbon emissions embedded in the construction process and in the materials would also put these claims of greenness in perspective.

]]>By: simon seasonshttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-59644
Sat, 10 Nov 2007 21:44:41 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-59644Nate, mate. your personal struggle for green credability IS honouring Aldo Leopolds ethos. any small task is a contributing factor in the task ahead. Check out Craig’s nov 9th post.
The dichotomy between the ‘individual’ and the fact that our existance on this earth is one inherently indivisible from that earth and all creation, is a religious problem. It is not a science problem or a production problem or even a social problem. The answers could be found in all those disparate fields of research, but until humanity regains its instinctive emotional engagement with the world around it, the application of those ‘answers’ will be a task indeed.
BUT, though the problem was religiously created by inventing the consept of a ‘personal salvation’ directly in conflict with the indivisible nature of our existance ‘in tune with’ the earth, which in turn created the consept of individuality (and loneliness, and notions of ineffectiveness and ultimately providing the basis for the political reality of ‘divide and rule’); the fact remains that we are not individuals in the effect that each and every one of ‘contributes’ to the effect on the whole. (eg climate change)
To paraphrase the words of Ghandi “You must be the change that you want to see in the world around you.” And that is the least that you have to do because you can do even more simply by letting other people see you. That is the importance of an LEED rating and the Leopolds of this world. The sum of a green consciousness amongst thinkers, regulators and designers and ‘little itty bitty’ people is greater than the whole not because we contribute to the whole but because we are the whole and we cannot avoid it.
]]>By: Natehttp://inhabitat.com/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-59619
Sat, 10 Nov 2007 18:20:25 +0000http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/11/08/first-leed-platinum-carbon-neutral-building/#comment-59619Green is fantastic, don’t get me wrong. I would love to see every building LEED certified, if only so they measure their carbon footprint and think about what damage they are doing to the environment when they needlessly use such opulent and excessive materials. Leopold would have certainly hoped for this.

Simply because someone criticizes something good doesn’t mean that they want it destroyed, or hate it, or even dislike it. Do I really think anyone is going to read my comments and seriously think about going green for green’s sake? Probably not. I’m in college, living in a dormitory that runs it heat off electricity in the winter straight from the local grid, eating fresh produce daily from halfway around the world, driving a mini-van by myself, and basically continually adding to all the carbon and energy waste that I care so much about NOT producing. I try to be as green as I can, but to fit in as a healthy member of society who can enact some real change, I need to go to college, and I need a car, and I need to eat. So I am well aware that I am open to hypocrisy. If I could, I would go green tomorrow, or at least, that’s what I’d like to think. But I don’t really know if I believe that. Would I really give up all those comforts of modern life that I’ve come to depend on?

So, yeah, I could be called a cynic, a hypocrite and an ignorant kid. Maybe I am. But I really think that as human beings we’re going to go with what’s easiest. We’ve already raped the earth pretty thoroughly, and we can go on denying it, or we can start to act. I say we act now to save what we can and fix what we’ve destroyed, if at all possible. But we need to be aware of how we tend to operate. We want what’s easy. It’s easy to be green and to keep green things in mind when building a new center in honor of Aldo Leopold by following LEED guidelines. But what we really need to do is learn to fight that tendency towards cultural and personal laziness (my own battle), and build all of our buildings green, in honor of people who DONT remind us of how we’ve failed as a race, in places that aren’t pristine and make us feel good about ourselves, in ways that solve the problem, not just meet the criteria.

So, no, I’m not bashing the Aldo Leopold Foundation Headquarters. It is a beautiful building heading strongly in the right direction. I just wish that it was a common incident indicative of a trend, and not something so rare as to be fascinating news.